


fondness is just another word for regret

by skittykitty



Category: 36 Questions (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Missing Scene, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-17 14:47:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29101995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skittykitty/pseuds/skittykitty
Summary: Judith is gone.It's just Jase, a phone, and two years of regrets.
Relationships: Jase Connelly/Judith Ford | Natalie Cook
Comments: 6
Kudos: 3





	fondness is just another word for regret

**Author's Note:**

> This fandom has so few fics,,, my god. I love this musical so much, and I hope y'all enjoy!

Two weeks had passed since Judith left, and still, he couldn’t seem to move on. All he could think of was—  _ her.  _

Her voice,  _ her lies.  _ The ugly truths and the beautiful lies spun by her lips.

The phone left in his mailbox.

_ Don’t listen, Jase. It’ll only make you feel worse.  _ He needed answers… but maybe he could wait until they left.

(So they wouldn’t have to hear him give in to her so easily. So he wouldn’t have to remember the desperation in her voice.)

His moms wouldn’t be able to stay for long, and soon he would be alone in his fixer-upper once more. As if no one had ever come in the first place. 

As if Judith, with her page of questions, with a table with long blown-out candles, had never been there in the first place.

As if Jase could ever forget her.

* * *

For the first few weeks after running away, Judith was something of a mess.

She  _ wanted  _ to be next to Jase— he had been her everything for far too long. She had changed for him, stopped running, and fallen in love.

And what was it all for?

Judith (or was she Natalie, the better version?) was back with her parents. People who whispered  _ why did you run? you know we want the best for you. _

Everything was harder without love to motivate her.

Without Jase to support her every step.

But she would move on.

She would create a better version of herself— whether that would kill the old her,  _ Judith Ford,  _ didn’t matter.

All that mattered was being able to escape— her parents, her past,  _ Jase. _

* * *

_ Love is inescapable,  _ they would both think. One with resignation, the other with fondness.

_ I love you,  _ they would think, years apart from one another.

_ Come back,  _ Jase would say.

_ This is the new me,  _ Natalie would whisper. 

_ I can never be who you want. _

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on my [tumblr](https://skitter-kitteruwu.tumblr.com/) where you can pester me to finish half-thought out ideas and scream to me about fics!!


End file.
